"To talk with Neil is to talk to a person who really wants to share," Anne Druyan tells us of the Cosmos host.

In our 10 Heroes of Black Nerddom piece, we talked about why Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is important as the modern face of science and scientific thought, and we won't rehash those reasons here.

The big surprise is what a perfect host he is for Cosmos, bringing just the right amount of charisma, humanity and gravitas to a show that could have easily hired a celebrity spokes-critter (I'm thinking one of the geek minstrels from Big Bang Theory) to front the show.

Serving as both our narrator and guide, Dr. Tyson blends the academic, the cosmic, the spiritual and the personal in a way that's surprising on a big-budget piece of TV.

Druyan says that "As much as [Carl] knew, he never spoke to impress people with how much he knew, only to communicate and to connect. And I think that's one of the reasons he's so beloved. And the same thing is true for Neil."

He's also responsible for the most emotional moment in the pilot episode.

3. Hold Up, There's Something in My Eye...

See that picture up there? That's a young Neil deGrasse Tyson, years before he would be a fixture on television and in the news talking about space, science, and getting a gig on a big budget science show. Once upon a time, that skinny kid was a huge Carl Sagan fanboy, and the story that the adult Dr. Tyson tells late in the pilot aims for the heart where much of Cosmos aims for the head.

Tyson recounts how, as a teen, he was invited by Sagan to visit his home in Ithaca, New York, the famed academic taking time out of his schedule to talk with a young man about a future in science.

You'll have to see the segment to see why it had a couple of journalists tearing up, but when Tyson says that meeting Sagan made him realize what kind of man he wanted to be, there might be some sniffles coming from your living room, too.

2. The Spirit of Carl Sagan Lives!

Fans of the original Cosmos are in for a treat when the new series makes its debut: Carl Sagan's voice is one of the first things that greets audiences, asking them to join him on a journey of discovery through space and time.

Besides the nostalgia factor (which is kind of a big deal for some fans), it also serves as a cool passing of the torch from one generation to the next, a kind of an endorsement from beyond the grave from Carl to Ann and company. What could come off as macabre and manipulative instead feels like the show's efforts to show us the evolution of the series (and our visions of the cosmos).

Plus, that voice, 30-odd years later asking you to come with him on a journey remains a hypnotic and wonderful thing.

"The dreams of a generation before have kind of been downsized," Ms. Druyan told us when asked about the new Cosmos. The author, producer and writer says that at least here in the U.S., we're in an era that's hostile (or at least apathetic) to science.

And who can blame her for seeing it that way? Hell, the most disheartening thing I read this week was a Dartmouth study showing that presented with hard, scientific data, anti-vaccination proponents would actually become more certain of their beliefs rather than the concrete facts. We're in a period where the shuttle program has been killed, where creation myths are making their way into science curricula, and science doesn't get the full-throated advocacy it deserves.

I'll leave you with this thought: when I asked why now was the right time to bring Cosmos back to the airwaves, Ms. Druyan suggested that it was always a good time for a series like this. "It's always a good time to have a cosmic perspective and the kind of awesome perspective of science at your disposal."

I spent a bleak, underemployed summer about ten years ago checking
out the entire Cosmos series on vhs from the local library.
It's a great way to put your personal bs in check and appreciate the
grandeur of the universe we are a part of. I've been a big Sagan fan
since I was a teenager, I wrote a report on him and read Cosmos in high
school. I am super excited about this new series.

And
Ann Druyan, Carls wife, is (formerly?) a higher up in the NORML
organization (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).
That may explain the Druyan-McFarlane connection? :) And why everything
Sagan ever did was so damn "weird" and "trippy"

I have high hopes for this one. I feel some vague 'too many remakes, make something new' irritation. I hope it isn't smug/preachy. I always thought Sagan could get that way, but I'll admit it was more from his writing.

I hope this does well. I have many fond memories of the original, however it's not purely a lack of understanding that has driven large segments of the population away from science based interpretation of the world. Once upon a time science was linked directly with religion as its primary patron. Eventually science had to break with religion to more faithfully pursue facts that were inconvenient to the truths maintained by religion. Educational institutions briefly carried the load of patronizing science, but the science got expensive, and was clearly connected to the public good so government stepped in... along with its inherent corruption and incompetence. I think general acceptance of science would be greatly served by distancing itself from it's quick and easy money connection with politics. Getting grant money for "proving" things that just so happen to serve political agendas most often results in the laziest "science" possible that is also easily debunkable - not sharing data, cherry-picking data, and having results that are clearly just copy pasted from their grant proposals in contradiction to the data presented are increasingly common.

Anywho, I hope this program opens people up to science, but I don't think it is a full answer by itself.

And now for a contrarian viewpoint from the Bad Nerd and A Grumpy Old Guy.

I attended the live preview event in Arlington, TX. After the broadcast ended, the guy in the seat next to me locked over at me and said " so. Pretty much word-for-word, huh?" Too much of the material was simply cut/pasted from the first.

2/3 of the premiere could have just been remastered video from the original. It started with the imaginary tour of the multiverse. (A segment I call " the world's address." And ended with the Cosmic calendar sequence.

DeGrasse-Tyson was excellent, no complaints there or with the music. The animated segment was lovely. Reminds me a bit of the sequence in Prince of Egypt where Moses see the vision of Pharoah feeding the babies to the crocodiles. I do wish they'd used hand drawn animation at least a bit.

Got a wee bit preachy, and I am hoping it doesn't double down on the sermonizing.

@troi Don't forget his work on the original Dexter's Lab too. I was surprised to see his name on the opening credits. Revival Family Guy and American Dad though...I don't know how those shows stay on, they're pretty terrible. A good question is how the Cleveland Show stayed on for so long...

The Q&A session at the end was weird. DeGrasse-Tyson's "we've got a badass over here" hand gestures were in full effect. The questions, we found out as we were invited to ask them, were scripted. Which is ok, I guess...

MacFarlane made a few jokes and produced a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels, which Druyan proceeded to commandeer.

Braga twice mentioned how unhappy he is on a personal level. Seemed odd to me and I had no sympathy. He's a zillionaire Hollywood bigwig with the power to do whatever the hell he pleases, so, yeah that schtick didn't play well with me.

At one point DT finished answering a question, clenched his fist to his mouth, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He looked like a preacher in that instant.